NEW YORK – A Swedish psychologist’s self-published picture book about a sleep-deprived rabbit has been acquired by Penguin Random House after becoming a word-of-mouth sensation.

A new edition of Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin’s The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep will come out in paper in the U.S. and the U.K. on Oct. 2 and as an e-book Sept. 8, the publisher told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

RELATED: Bookworm baby can’t stand it when book ends

Billed as a groundbreaking story that “gives suggestions to the child’s unconscious mind to sleep,” Ehrlin’s book features such soporific helpers as Uncle Yawn and Sleepy Snail and has inspired an international debate over its effectiveness. The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep was illustrated by Irina Maununen.

Originally released in 2011 and translated into English by Ehrlin a year ago, the book this summer soared into the top 10 on Amazon苏州美甲纹绣培训 and Barnes & Noble苏州美甲纹绣培训, at times outselling such high-profile works as Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman and E L James’ Grey.

“It is an absolute joy for me to see the response that the book has received from parents all around the world, and it is something I never imagined would happen,” Ehrlin, 37, said in a statement. “I frequently hear from parents about how the story has helped ease their child’s bedtime and naptime routines, and I am so pleased to know that the book will now be able to reach, and help, even more families.”

Ehrlin also plans two more books with Penguin Random House; their content will be announced at a later date.

The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep will be published by Random House Children’s Books in the U.S. and by Penguin Random House Children’s U.K. Two audio editions also will come out on Oct. 2, one narrated by a man, the other by a woman.

WATCH ABOVE: Jeff Mizanskey was freed from a maximum security prison in Jefferson City, Missouri on Tuesday after serving 21 years for a marijuana-related charge. Patrick Fazio has the story.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A man sentenced to life without parole on a marijuana-related charge was freed Tuesday from a Missouri prison after being behind bars for two decades — a period in which the nation’s attitudes toward pot steadily softened.

Family, friends, supporters and reporters flocked to meet Jeff Mizanskey as he stepped out of the Jefferson City Correctional Center into a sunny morning, wearing a new pair of white tennis shoes and a shirt that read “I’m Jeff & I’m free.”

“I spent a third of my life in prison,” said Mizanskey, now 62, who was greeted by his infant great-granddaughter. “It’s a shame.”

After a breakfast of steak and eggs with family, Mizanskey said, he planned to spend his post-prison life seeking a job and advocating for the legalization of marijuana. He criticized sentencing for some drug-related crimes as unfair and described his time behind bars as “hell.”

His release followed years of lobbying by relatives, lawmakers and others who argued that the sentence was too stiff and that marijuana should not be forbidden.

Mizanskey was sentenced in 1996 — the same year California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. Medical marijuana is now legal in 23 states, and recreational marijuana has been legalized in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and Washington, D.C.

“The reason he’s getting out is because the public clearly has changed its opinion about marijuana, and it’s just one of many ways in which that has been reflected in recent years,” said Mizankey’s attorney, Dan Viets.

Just last year, the heavily Republican Missouri Legislature passed a law to allow certain people with epilepsy to seek treatment with a marijuana extract containing little of the chemical that causes users to feel high and larger amounts of a compound called cannabidiol, or CBD. The patients can include babies, Viets said.

“Nobody saw that coming,” he said. “That is a pretty radical statement.”

Police said Mizanskey conspired to sell 6 pounds of marijuana to a dealer connected with Mexican drug cartels. At the time, the life-with-no-parole sentence was allowed under a Missouri law for repeat drug offenders. Mizanskey already had two drug convictions — one for possession and sale of marijuana in 1984 and another for possession in 1991.

READ MORE: Mulcair promises to decriminalize marijuana the ‘minute we form government’

He was the only Missouri inmate serving such a sentence for a nonviolent marijuana-related offense when Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon agreed in May to commute his sentence. The commutation allowed Mizanskey to argue for his freedom before a parole board, which granted the request in August.

The governor cited Mizanskey’s nonviolent record, noting that none of his offenses involved selling drugs to children. The law under which he was originally sentenced has been changed.

Other states are re-evaluating punishments for drug-possession crimes, motivated in large part by the high cost of imprisoning low-level, nonviolent offenders.

In Connecticut, a new law will make possession of small amounts of hard drugs, including heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, a misdemeanor for a first-time offense, rather than an offense carrying up to seven years in prison. Nebraska and Alabama expect to save hundreds of millions of dollars by using new laws to cut down on the number of offenders locked up for possessing small amounts of drugs.

In Missouri, backers of two ballot initiatives to legalize pot have permission from the secretary of state to begin collecting signatures to put the issue before voters in 2016. Another petition proposes reducing sentences for nonviolent drug offenders who are serving time without opportunity for parole.

Mizanskey said he will not smoke marijuana now that he’s free; he’s on parole, after all.

But if it ever becomes legal on the state and federal levels, he said, “definitely.”

Thousands of soccer fans聽at England’s Wembley Stadium showed聽solidarity with France Tuesday, joining in singing of聽‘La Marseillaise’, the French national anthem.

More than 70,000 people聽were in attendance at the famed sports venue for an England versus聽France soccer match just days after the tragic Paris attacks left at least 129 people dead.

A flag reading “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite” led the players聽onto the field, where members of聽both teams stood shoulder-to-shoulder for a photograph. Both country’s anthems were then played, first of England then France.

Wembley … pic.twitter苏州美甲纹绣培训/lI3f4NU4ps

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) November 17, 2015

The stadium appeared to be alive as聽fans waved French flags and sang along, while聽the words of the’La Marseillaise’ were displayed on stadium screens.聽The massive venue聽was aglow in red, white and blue, the colours of the French flag.

A聽moment of silence was observed as the聽players stood in a circle聽on the field.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and聽Prince William were among those in attendance;聽the prince聽laid a wreath before the game began.

TORONTO —; David Price can join a select list of Blue Jays on Wednesday when the American League Cy Young Award winner is announced.

But even if Price is right for the award, the free agent pitcher may be an asterisk on the Jays’ list of winners – Roy Halladay (2003), Roger Clemens (1997, ’98) and Pat Hentgen (1996) – given his Toronto days could well be over.

Price (18-5), who joined Toronto on July 30 in a deal with Detroit just ahead of the trade deadline, is up against Sonny Gray (14-7) of the Oakland Athletics and Dallas Keuchel (20-8) of the Houston Astros for the AL award.

Interim Jays GM Tony LaCava was cagey when asked about Price on Tuesday.

“Without being specific to any one guy, we’re engaged with a number of free agents and we’re talking to a lot of teams as well,” he said.

The Cubs have already been linked to Price, who is expected to land a contract in excess of US$200 million.

Price went 9-1 with a 2.30 earned-run average in 11 starts with the Jays. He ranked first in the American League in earned-run average (2.45), third in innings pitched (220.1) tied for third in quality starts (24) and was fourth in strikeouts (225).

The National League Cy Young winner will also be announced Wednesday with Jake Arrieta (22-6) of the Chicago Cubs and Zack Greinke (19-3) and Clayton Kershaw (16-7) of the Los Angeles Dodgers vying for the award. Kershaw has won the award in three of the last four years.

The Jays are also in the mix for AL MVP on Thursday with third baseman Josh Donaldson up against Lorenzo Cain of the Kansas City Royals and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels.

Donaldson, who arrived prior to the 2015 season in a deal with Oakland, hit .297 with 41 home runs and 123 RBIs. Twenty-seven of his homers either tied the game or gave Toronto the lead.

SALT LAKE CITY – Former Utah lawmaker Jackie Biskupski on Tuesday became the first openly gay mayor of Salt Lake City, the capital of the conservative state where the Mormon church and a small town judge delivered setbacks last week to the LGBT community.

The victory by Biskupski marked another milestone for LGBT people in Utah who have made major strides in recent years.

“Today is not just about making history,” Biskupski said. “It is about people. It is about affecting change.”

Her supporters cheered when the results were read at an elections canvass meeting.

Two-term incumbent Ralph Becker showed no reaction and later congratulated Biskupski and vowed to work with her to ensure a smooth transition.

Official election results showed Biskupski won 52 per cent of the votes to defeat Becker.

“Serving as mayor of Salt Lake City has been the richest working experience of my life,” Becker told reporters.

Salt Lake City voters also elected Derek Kitchen, who became the second gay member of the City Council.

He and his husband, Moudi Sbeity, were one of three couples who sued to overturn the state’s same-sex marriage ban.

Biskupski takes over after progress on gay rights was temporarily marred in recent weeks when a judge ordered a foster child to be removed from a lesbian couple and placed with a heterosexual couple. The judge cited the child’s well-being as the reason for his order.

The ruling set off a firestorm around the state and nation. The judge quickly reversed his decision and took himself off the case.

Days earlier, the Salt Lake City-based Mormon church issued new rules targeting gay members and their children, prompting widespread backlash. The new policy bans baptisms for children of gay parents until the kids turn 18 and disavow same-sex relationships.

Biskupski is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and said she hopes the faith reconsiders the policy. She said one of her goals as mayor is to meet with church leaders and discuss the new rules.

Biskupski declined to discuss the church policy further Tuesday, saying she wanted to meet with Mormon officials first.

Earlier this year, the church endorsed a statewide anti-discrimination law that protected gay and transgender people from discrimination in housing and the workplace.

It’s a contrast from 1998, when Biskupski became Utah’s first openly gay lawmaker and some of her colleagues in the heavily Mormon and conservative Legislature wouldn’t shake her hand.

WATCH: Utah judge orders baby taken away from lesbian couple

Asked about her win in light of the recent controversies, Biskupski said, “It’s 2015, and we’ve come a long way from, gosh, when I first got elected.”

Regarding the foster child case, Biskupski said she was proud of Utah’s Republican governor for criticizing the action by the judge. She called the ruling “so old and rhetorical.”

Salt Lake City is a liberal island in the state where no Republican has been elected mayor in four decades. Gay rights group Equality Utah endorsed both Becker and Biskupski.

Becker, 63, has been called an ally of the LGBT community, helping pass a 2009 city anti-discrimination ordinance. He also officiated dozens of the first gay marriages in 2013 in the hours after a surprising ruling overturned Utah’s same sex marriage ban.

TORONTO – “Something big” is coming to the bleak grey wasteland under the Gardiner Expressway.

On Tuesday, the city unveiled Project: Under Gardiner, a revitalization project kickstarted by a $25-million donation from local philanthropists.

Today’s the day – can you feel the excitement? Something big is coming. pic.twitter苏州美甲纹绣培训/7xhDbYND8O

— Under Gardiner (@undergardiner) November 17, 2015

Early plans show cycling trails, performance spaces and even a skating rink, although the city will entertain public consultation that could see the design evolve over time. The possibilities are almost endless.

Other cities around the world have capitalized on the dead space beneath their roadways to create remarkable art and community projects. Here are just a few.

Phoenix Flowers – Glasgow, Scotland

After Glasgow lost Phoenix Park due to freeway construction, the city attempted to recreate a park-like atmosphere with a colourful display of huge metal flowers and a bright red walkway connecting North Glasgow and the city centre.

Stanica Cultural Centre – Zilina, Slovakia

The “cultural node” combines a bar, cafe, theatrical hall, gallery, artists’ workshop and even a free campground under an active rail line and in a central highway roundabout.

The original structure is part of a defunct train station – the name Stanica means “station” in Slovak – but the entire centre continues outdoors, where a performance venue using beer crates and hay bales for seats lies under the elevated train tracks.

SEART Park – Auckland, New Zealand

Named for the South Eastern Arterial roadway that runs overhead, this park is festooned with randomly placed, brightly painted poles that enliven an otherwise Gardiner-esque grey zone.

The Underline – Miami, Fla.

Still a work in progress, Miami’s ambitious underline aims to create a “10-mile canvas for artistic expression,” according to the project website. Current plans call for creation of gardens, bike and running paths, an art gallery and a “hammock trail.”

Street Children Home – Caracas, Venezuela

A different sort of underpass project, this small shelter for homeless youth still makes innovative use of otherwise dead and dilapidated space. The 30-bed shelter also boasts a rooftop basketball court and soccer area, a garden and a woodworking shop.

TORONTO —; Police are searching for at least two suspects in connection with a hate crime investigation after a Muslim woman was allegedly attacked and robbed while picking up her children from a Toronto school on Monday.

The incident occurred at around 3 p.m. near the Grenoble Public School in the Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East area, police said.

Related

Hindu temple in Kitchener, Ont. targeted by vandals

Toronto police said the men approached the woman called her a “terrorist” and told her to “go back to your country,” adding that the men then tore off her hijab, robbed her of her money and cellphone and punched her.

Police said the woman then went to a nearby school asking for help and was transported to hospital. She has since been released.

Supt. Mark Barkley said Monday that the woman was recovering from her injuries and resting as police continue their investigation.

“The full weight of our investigative resources are being put to the test right now,” he said. “We’re investigating, we’re looking at video trying to get the best evidence possible we can to identify who’s responsible for this.”

Barkley said they were trying to determine what the motivation behind the alleged assault and robbery, to determine whether it was an “isolated incident.”

He added that a hate crime investigator would be speaking with the family and police are asking any witnesses to come forward with surveillance video or images of the suspects.

READ MORE: Trudeau condemns mosque fire in Peterborough, Ont.

The brother of the woman, who spoke to Global News under condition of anonymity, said his sister was “very traumatized” after the alleged attack.

“She’s very taken aback, she received multiple shots to her stomach, to her face, we’re worried about her internal situation right now,” he said, adding that she was called a “terrorist” and told to “go back.”

“That’s the school I went to, that’s the school she went to. We were born and raised here, our parents came here 40 years ago, 45 years ago, and we’re not going anywhere.”

The woman’s brother said he believed the attack was an isolated incident, but added that the anti-Muslim graffiti discovered inside a Toronto apartment building Monday occurred at his cousin’s residence.

“We are Canadians and we want to uphold Canadian values,” he said, adding that the alleged incidents created anxiety and fear in the neighbourhood.

“It is our collective duty to make sure these fears and these heinous crimes whether it’s here or in Paris or anywhere else does not take place.”

A woman who knows the alleged victim and works at Grenoble Public School said she was in “very bad shape” following the alleged attack.

“She was crying. She was shaking,” said Sahar Badawi.

“It’s a hate crime. When people stop a woman in the street. One grab her scarf and one punch her and start saying bad words about Muslims.”

A parent with children at the school said she was shocked to hear about the incident in the news.

“I feel it’s too bad. It’s not easy,” said Inass Elhassem. “It is a good area. Everybody accepts others. That is unacceptable of course.”

The Toronto District School Board issued a statement Tuesday saying it plans to send a note to parents so they are aware of the attack that took place off school property.

Area resident Joanna Whitney said she was shaken by the assault.

“That makes me want to cry that people react like that,” she said.

“There’s no need for it. We’re supposed to be an inclusive country.”

Mayor John Tory also decried the attack, saying it’s unacceptable in a city built on inclusivity and diversity.

“I know I speak for all Torontonians when I say that this is a random act, this is an unacceptable act that involves stereotyping people who are not responsible for acts that are going on overseas at all,” he said.

The anti-Muslim attack on a Toronto mother in Flemingdon Park is disgusting, unacceptable and not reflective of our city’s values.

— John Tory (@JohnTory) November 17, 2015

“Here in Toronto we embrace each other, we understand each other, we reach out to each other and we don’t commit these kinds of acts. I trust this will be an isolated act that will not be repeated because it’s just not consistent with our way of life or consistent with the way we think of each other.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne also urged caution to the people of Ontario in the wake of the alleged attack.

“We need to be vigilant in our communities,” she said.

“Whether it be in my home riding in Flemingdon Park, or in Peterborough, or in the province, or the country, not to allow these events to trigger racism and allow that to take hold.”

SAINT JOHN, NB- Richard Oland’s cell phone activity from the day before he died, and the day after, was examined on Tuesday as the second degree murder trial of Dennis Oland continued in Saint John.

Dennis, 47, is accused of killing his father in July of 2011.

READ MORE: Court hears from witnesses who may have heard Richard Oland being killed

Sylvie Gill, an investigator with Rogers Communications, took the court through a pair of call detail reports obtained through a court order for July 6th and 7th of 2011, the day Richard was believed to have been killed and the day his body was found.

Richard’s iPhone 4 was the only thing to go missing from the crime scene and has never been found.

Gill outlined Richard’s cell, noting many of the calls and texts came from the phone of his mistress Diana Sedlacek who testified at the trial last week.

The Crown asked when was the last communication that Richard’s phone would have received, which Gill said came at 6:44 pm and communicated with a cell tower in Rothesay on the Rothesay road. That corresponded with one of the times Sedlacek told the court last week she had tried to contact Oland.

Earlier in the trial, the court heard Dennis Oland was in the area of the Renforth wharf in Rothesay early in the evening of July 6th. He went to the wharf and picked something up, walked down the wharf, put it in a bag and then left the area.

Gill also went over a report detailing the activity of the cell phone of Sedlacek as well as Richard Oland’s Rogers bill with references to things like internet usage, roaming data and wifi.

The afternoon session was taken up by discussions between the crown and defence on issues in the absence of the jury which cannot be reported.

Other residents have expressed concerns about children walking to a nearby school with only one sidewalk to lead them there.

But the city’s Department of Public Works says the new plan could improve service for residents.

Don Morehouse speaks for the Department. He says the new plan would help crews widen streets and speed-up snow clearing operations on the one remaining sidewalk.

“Learning from last winter we decided to consider maintaining a real good service on one side of this busier street and optimize the street width by using the storage capacity on the opposite side,” he said.

For those newly infected and diagnosed with HIV in Canada, if they seek treatment right away, the long-term outlook is quite different than it used to be.

“The news is very good compared to 20 years ago…a young person diagnosed with HIV today, a young adult, who begins therapy shortly thereafter and takes therapy every day, exactly as directed, is expected to live into their 70s, or even 80s. It’s a really good forecast, people can go back to work, people can lead a healthy life,” Sean Hosein, science and medicine editor at CATIE told Global News.

The old treatment regimens included taking handfuls of pills multiple times a day and came with side effects, now treatment can just be one pill, taken once a day.

“They were awful the old regimens” said Hosein. “Treatment is a lot simpler, it’s a lot safer and it’s better tolerated.”

Treatment and outlooks can be different for those who have HIV for years and delay treatment.

READ MORE: Charlie Sheen reveals he’s HIV-positive

HIV rates on the rise

Close to 73,000 Canadians are HIV-positive, and between 25-27 per cent are unaware they have the virus.

Rates of new HIV infection in Canada are on the rise, according to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR). Young adults, aged 20-29, account for a quarter of all Canadians diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. Since 2000, the proportion of AIDS cases among youth has increased from 26.3 per cent to 43 per cent.

According to CANFAR, HIV is typically a chronic, manageable condition. While HIV-positive individuals are at a greater risk of developing infections and experiencing side effects from medication, alterations in lifestyle and attention to maintaining their drug regimen can cause for a productive, long lifespan. HIV no longer necessarily evolves into AIDS. That being said, life threatening complications can still occur when living with HIV.

There is no vaccine. Experts say condoms, if used consistently and correctly, are highly effective at preventing sexual transmission. Also, a daily pill sometimes is prescribed for healthy people to help prevent them from becoming infected by partners who have the virus, something called “pre-exposure prophylaxis.”

And to clear up a misconception – there is no cure for HIV.

“There is no cure for HIV right now, there are treatments that can control HIV, if taken exactly as directed, and you stay in care with your doctor you can have a near normal lifespan, but there is no cure for HIV right now,” Hosein told Global News.

Life expectancy varies in Canada

A study released in August found that Canadians diagnosed with HIV are living longer than ever, inequalities in life expectancy persist across the country.

The study, from the Canadian Observational Cohort Collaboration, indicated the overall life expectancy of Canadians undergoing antiretroviral treatment for the AIDS-causing virus had climbed to 65 years — about a 16-year jump since 2000.

But while those increases were felt across the board, life expectancy was shown to have improved more for men than for women. People with a history of drug use and those with First Nations ancestry also didn’t experience as much of an increase.

Before humans set foot on Mars, it’s likely that a rover will be the first to get a sample from the red planet and bring it back to Earth.

That’s why researchers at several universities are conducting a sort of dress rehearsal for such a future mission.

READ MORE: NASA looking for astronauts to head to Mars

Over the next two weeks, 35 students will gather at “Mission Control” at Western University in London, Ont. and control a robotic mission, in partnership with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

The Canadian robotics company MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) have built the six-wheeled rover that will be trundling the terrain not on Mars, but in Utah. On board is a 3-D laser scanner as well as several cameras and, of course, a drill to collect rock samples.

This is the university’s third year working a mission like this with the CSA, though the location is the most realistic to Mars than it has been in the past.

Tuesday was sol 2 (sol is one Martian day) for the mission that will last for two weeks.

@csa_asc rover engineers have given us the OK on our sol 1 plan. Time to start driving to Alfheim! #CanMars pic.twitter苏州美甲纹绣培训/CqGJad7ldf

— Tanya Harrison (@tanyaofmars) November 16, 2015

Space agencies are extremely curious about Mars and unravelling its long history and answering the questions “Is there life? Was there ever life?” Though several robotic missions have been sent to the red planet since Mariner 4 first touched down in 1964, no mission has ever returned a sample to Earth. Having planetary scientists analyze a real sample is something many would like to see and would be a treasure trove of information.

But before we get there, we’ll need to train people to operate the rovers in a realistic —; what scientists call analog —; environment.

“One of the biggest things is, we’re good and we’ve gotten things to the surface of Mars, but we’ve never gotten anything back off,” said Gordon Osinski, assistant professor and NSERC/MDA/CSA Industrial Research Chair in Planetary Geology at the University of Western Ontario.

But he’s confident that that will soon change. And that’s what this simulation is all about.

“A really big part of this is training the next generation of Mars explorers,” Osinski said.

“When you’re doing an actual planetary mission you never know if you missed anything,” he said. “We have a team down in Utah that is kind of documenting things, taking imagery…. We can also go that one step further. There is a drill mounted on the rover and we will actually bring samples back to Western and see how well they did or didn’t.”

Great discussion going on within the science team. What are we looking at?! Day 2 of #CanMars is underway! pic.twitter苏州美甲纹绣培训/6TjV1ivgVJ

— Gordon Oz Osinski (@drcrater) November 17, 2015

So far the mission has gone well, with one speed bump: the camera on the mast of the rover can’t rotate its designed 360-degree view. As with any technical glitch, there’s a workaround: you just move the rover.

We’ve reached our target area “Alfheim.” These are the individual targets of interest at Alfheim. #CanMars pic.twitter苏州美甲纹绣培训/J9c3UblA14

— Tanya Harrison (@tanyaofmars) November 17, 2015

And of course, there are the human challenges.

“The students are getting used to pinpricks of data: an image here, an image there,” Osinski said. “Thinking and processing data in our brains that way is definitely a challenge for the students, but they’re doing fantastic.”

The mission will run until Nov. 27.

“We have the most realistic rover, the biggest science team in a very Mars-like terrain,” Osinzki said. “It’s a very exciting thing.”